In Civil Engineering works, one of the biggest challenges is the designing of bridges to clean fluvial obstacles, such as rivers and streams and keeping the costs as economical as possible, and assuring their construction and development in the shortest time possible. The traditional structures have supports on each side of the river or creek, besides the bases embedded in the floor, are to conform support structures for the deck or tracks on which the vehicles circulate, all of which require complex elaboration of connecting parts and elements. In addition to this, there is also the need for civil works for sinking of the bases and the supports necessary to support the deck of the bridge.
Demountable bridges have been developed, especially of the military type, to cross rivers and waterways. Probably the most renowed and divulged is the Bailey bridge, assembled in a mecano or erector fashion that allows it to be disassembled when it is no longer needed, or instaled in another site when needed, resulting in enornmous savings of time and expenses. However, the Bailey bridges are somewhat complex due to the number of parts and pieces that have to be joined and fitted, thus requiring a qualified and skilled labor force to assemble and dismount them.
There exists, however, an urgent need in the industry for provisional bridges that will permit the crossing of waterways as quickly and safely as possible. Provisional bridges that can be dismantle once the waterway is crossed and can be installed at another site if needed, consequently saving a great amount of materials and expenses.
Also, another important factor is that the bridge can be assembled and disassembled in the shortest time possible because in many economical type operations, the time factor is fundamental.
This is particularly evident in mining explotations, especially in the exploration and explotation of petroleum, as they generally take place in isolated and inhospitable places with, in most cases, no conventional roads. Heavy and expensive equipment has to be carried along trails and provisional roads where it is not feasible to build permanent bridges.